VACATION UPDATE

SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2005

Our vacation in the states is half over. We've been here two weeks and two days, and of that time, I've been sick for two weeks and one day...coughing, sneezing, blowing, draining. Addicted to cherry cough drops. I have kleenex in every pocket of every outfit I've worn. I just can't seem to shake this. At first I didn't go to the doctor because I thought it was just a cold. I bought some Zircam, the stuff that's supposed to shorten the duration of a cold...I've had good luck with it in the past, but maybe this isn't a cold. I think this is just what we call "the Ohio Valley crud". Every time I think I'm getting better, I have a relapse, like tonight, when I woke up at 3 a.m., coughing, coughing, coughing. I had to go to the basement and dig through the suitcases that have already been packed to find some cold pills. I'm typing this as I wait for them to kick in.

Art and I have both had several doctor's appointments. We've both had our teeth cleaned. I had my eyes checked, had a mammogram and a pap smear. On Tuesday I'll have a baseline colonoscopy. Yesterday we went for Art's checkups with his back doctors, and he saw the dermatologist to have a few spots on his face frozen off. We've refilled most of our prescriptions, and should be set for several months. In addition to saving money, refilling our prescriptions by mail allows us to get a three month supply, which is very helpful in our situation.

Since I've been sick, I haven't talked to or seen very many people. I did stop by the Hikes Point Post Office on my second day here, before I was coughing like crazy. I've been to Target and KMart and Kohls, and bought everything on the list I had been compiling. I have coffee creamer and marshmallows for Wendy, and tons of odds and ends for us. Chili powder, cornbread mix, shelf liner, powdered sugar, yeast. A throw rug for the kitchen. Silk flowers. Kitchen odds and ends. A few DVD's.

I mailed a box of books back to Italy. I hope this box makes it. When we mailed our books to Italy last August, five of the six boxes arrived within eight weeks. We had all but given up on the sixth box, and then it finally arrived in January, in perfect condition. No hint as to where it had been or why it had been delayed for three months.

I got our taxes filed and cleared up a few business matters. Email may be wonderful, but it's so nice to be able to pick up the phone, talk with the person in charge, and clear up problems immediately. Our TSP accounts finally got transferred to our IRA accounts. I listed my car for sale in the paper. Oh, and I got my computer fixed...turns out that the driver I downloaded WAS the right one, but for whatever reason, it was unable to fix the problem due to the new Quicken program I had installed. The computer repairman ended up having to call Toshiba, so I guess it was worth dragging the computer back with me.

Art has been working at Churchill Downs...Derby week wasn't very pretty, and Derby Day itself was rainy, but since then the weather has improved. The last few days it's be in the mid 80's...I'm ready to turn on the air conditioner! Since the track is closed on Monday and Tuesdays, those have been the only days Art and I have been together, but with me being sick, we really haven't done much. We did go to see a movie tonight..."Mystic River". We still need to see the third installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, as well as several others. The new Brad Pitt movie comes out next week, and I really hope to see it before we leave.

Nicholas and I are going to North Carolina on Thursday to see Siobhan. I can't wait to have both grandkids together! We'll return on Sunday, and then we'll only have three days before we return to Italy. I hope the patio has been laid. Art's last day at the track will be next Sunday, so we'll have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to tie up any loose ends and pack. Our plans for Prague are set for ten days after we return to Italy.

Well, the pills I took earlier seem to have kicked in. I've stopped coughing and seem to have dried up. I hope I can get some sleep. We're both enjoying our time here, visiting friends, seeing familiar sights. I'm enjoying driving. Once we go back to Italy, we won't return to the states until Christmas, so that will be our longest continuous stretch in Italy. During that time, I think we'll finally be able to settle in and feel like we really live there...since we were there for only three months before we came home last Christmas, and since we were only there for three months before this trip, our stays still have the feel of an extended vacation. Of course, now that we're retired, we tell everyone that we're on permanent vacation, but I'm looking forward to settling in to the day to day rythyms of life in Italy.